Backrooms Review: Kane Parsons’ Horror Hit Impresses, Then Stalls

“We are fighting for our lives.”

That line hangs over Our Hero, Balthazar like a warning siren for a generation raised online where being seen can feel like survival itself.

In his impressive feature debut, Oscar Boyson takes aim at the messy intersection of toxic masculinity, our hyper-digital age, and the desperate need to matter. The film follows a wealthy New York teen who agrees to meet an online connection in an attempt to stop him from committing an act of extreme violence. The result is tense, uncomfortable, and frequently very funny, though sometimes to its own detriment.

At the film's core is a familiar but increasingly urgent question: what happens when young men feel invisible? Boyson explores that anxiety through the complicated relationship between fathers and sons, examining how inherited ideas about masculinity mutate in the age of social media. The film understands that the desire to be heard isn't inherently dangerous, but what people do with that need, and who exploits it, becomes combustible.

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